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EU-Morroco fish deal a 'failure' for all concerned
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - A controversial fisheries partnership agreement between the EU and Morocco has provided very poor returns to the European tax payer, and failed to bring about tangible benefits in the north African country, according to a report sponsored by the European Commission.
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EU Observer
By Andrew Willis
1 April 2011

The study by consultants Oceanic Développement also underlines the over-exploited status of Morocco's fish stocks at a time when the merits of renewing the partnership agreement have caused a bitter division between EU member states, and the bloc reassesses its wider relationship with the southern Mediterranean region.

Human rights campaigners have weighed in against the controversial four-year agreement which expired in February 2011 but was prolonged for one year, arguing that it legitimises Rabat's annexation of the disputed Western Sahara region to the south of the country.

EU fisheries commissioner Maria Damanaki has made it clear that a longer-term renewal of the agreement which sees the EU hand Morocco an annual €36 million must display benefits to the inhabitants of the contested region, a Spanish colony until 1975.

But the restricted-access commission report, which NGOs have fought to be made public, says neither side has gained much from the deal.

"Each euro spent by the EU only generated 83 cents turnover and 65 cents direct and indirect value added accruing to the EU," says the report, seen by this website. "These are the lowest cost-benefit ratios of support to the European fleet across all ongoing bilateral agreements."

Benefits to Moroccan citizens appear to have been little better, with just 170 jobs created and the "few direct interactions" between EU boats and the national fishing industry failing to stimulate the development of the country's fishing sector.

The report is also clear that the roughly 100 EU boats which fish in Moroccan waters are not helping to exploit surplus stocks but instead adding to overfishing pressures, a practice that is supposedly banned under UN rules.

"The data available on the status of stocks in the EEZ [exclusive economic zone] of Morocco indicate that most of the stocks are fully exploited or over-exploited," states the report.

Greenpeace is one NGO that has been pressing for public access to the commission report and others like it. "The agreement is problematic in a number of different ways: environmental, social and wasteful to the EU taxpayer," said fisheries activist Saskia Richartz.

As a result, a handful of EU member states (Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Germany and the UK) voted against the one-year extension at an acrimonious meeting of EU fisheries ministers in Brussels in February. The group found themselves on the losing side however, outvoted by a majority led by Spain and France.

Sources suggest the issue has produced lively debate inside the college of EU commissioners as well, with Portuguese commission president Jose Manuel Barroso and Spanish vice-president Joaquin Almunia reported to have weighed in with typically national views.

Spanish and Portuguese fishermen benefit most from the EU's access agreement to Moroccan waters, where the real prize is the bountiful waters off the disputed Western Sahara region.

Human rights organisations and MEPs such as Green euro-deputy Isabella Lovin argue any extension of the agreement would further legitimise Morocco's annexation of the disputed zone of half a million people, fought over and ultimately taken under Rabat's complete control after Spain rapidly pulled out in 1975.

The region's independence group, the Polisario Front, condemned the EU member state decision in February to extend the fishing agreement by one year, with the movement's secretary general Bir Lehlou branding the ministers as "seemingly oblivious to the democratic fervour sweeping across the Middle East and the Maghreb."

Lawyers in the European Parliament's legal services have said they also suspect the fishing agreement breaches international law by ignoring the rights of the Saharawi people to control their natural resources. MEPs are set to vote on the one-year extension in the coming weeks.




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News:

15.10 - 2019 / 15.10 - 2019THIS PAGE IS NO LONGER UPDATED
23.10 - 2015 / 23.10 - 2015Morocco continues to discard by-catches in occupied Western Sahara
29.06 - 2015 / 29.06 - 2015Moroccan government accused of fraud with EU anti-driftnet money
02.12 - 2014 / 02.12 - 2014Maria Damanaki opposed continued EU fishing in Western Sahara
18.09 - 2014 / 18.09 - 2014EU-Morocco fish deal: who's shown an interest so far?
18.09 - 2014 / 18.09 - 2014Dutch first to fish under unethical EU-Morocco fish deal
09.08 - 2014 / 09.08 - 2014UN former legal chief slams EU legal view as "preposterous"
21.07 - 2014 / 21.07 - 2014Illegal EU fish agreement with Morocco now ratified by King
14.03 - 2014 / 14.03 - 20149 detained, threats of jail if demonstrating against EU fisheries
11.02 - 2014 / 11.02 - 2014Here are the EU states that will benefit from the dirty fisheries
11.02 - 2014 / 11.02 - 2014Morocco adopts contentious EU-Morocco fish deal
10.12 - 2013 / 10.12 - 2013Occupied Sahara: EU undermining Human Rights on Human Rights Day
08.12 - 2013 / 08.12 - 2013More vids of demonstration and victims of EU/Moroccan plans in Sahara
08.12 - 2013 / 08.12 - 2013Western Sahara president asks UN intervention to stop EU and Morocco
08.12 - 2013 / 08.12 - 2013Many injured in protest against EU/Spain fish plans in Western Sahara
05.12 - 2013 / 05.12 - 2013EU fish plans illegal, 21 jurists and lawyers state
05.12 - 2013 / 05.12 - 2013267 organisations ask European Parliament to reject fish accord
04.12 - 2013 / 04.12 - 2013President of African Parliament calls on EU to respect Sahara rights
02.12 - 2013 / 02.12 - 2013Greenpeace: EU parliament must vote no to Western Sahara fisheries
18.11 - 2013 / 18.11 - 2013European Liberal Youth calls for no EU fishing in occupied Sahara






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The EU considers to pay Morocco to fish in occupied Western Sahara. An EU-Morocco Fisheries Agreement from 2013 would be both politically controversial and in violation of international law. The international Fish Elsewhere! campaign demands the EU to avoid such unethical operations, and go fishing somewhere else. No fishing in Western Sahara should take place until the conflict is solved.
عريضة لوقف النهب

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يحضر الاتحاد الاوربي لإبرام اتفاق غير اخلاقي جديد للصيد البحري مع المغرب في سنة 2013.

مرة اخرى، يعتزم الاتحاد الاوربي الصيد في المياه الاقليمية للصحراء الغربية المحتلة في خرق سافر للقانون الدولي. وقع هذه العريضة للتنديد بذلك.

"EU fisheries in Western Sahara must be stopped"




Western Sahara human rights activist Aminatou Haidar hopes for increased attention to the EU plundering of occupied Western Sahara.

READ ALSO

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Guardian: EU taking its over-fishing habits to west African waters?
15.12 - 2011
EU Observer: Morocco expels EU fishing boats
15.12 - 2011
BBC News: Morocco's fish fight: High stakes over Western Sahara
15.12 - 2011
European Voice: MEPs reject EU-Morocco fisheries pact
15.12 - 2011
Reuters: EU lawmakers reject Morocco fisheries pact






Human rights activist Malak Amidane denounces EU fisheries